After Georgia Crouch’s husband died of heart disease in 1974 she went back to college to earn a master’s degree in social work at Our Lady of the Lake University and dedicated her career to others facing death.

The San Antonio, Texas resident went to work for VistaCare Hospice and helped with a Hospice Demonstration Project that established Medicare Funding for hospice patients.

Crouch, 81, a former National Association of Social Workers member, died from ovarian cancer on November 15, according to this obituary in the the San Antonio Express-News.

“That field (hospice care) provided her with a connection to people, to be there for people, to provide for them and to help guide them,” her daughter Jacqueline Crouch Montague said. “She felt such an importance to care for individuals who were at the final stages of their life.”